gantry

noun

gan·try | \ ˈgan-trē

plural gantries

Definition of gantry

1 : a frame for supporting barrels

2 : a frame structure raised on side supports so as to span over or around something: such as

a : a platform made to carry a traveling crane and supported by towers or side frames running on parallel tracks also : a movable structure with platforms at different levels used for erecting and servicing rockets before launching

b : a structure spanning several railroad tracks and displaying signals for each

Examples of gantry in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There were 21 people working in the 118-foot-tall support gantry, a massive steel structure with multiple levels that engineers and techs use to make the final preparations. — Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, "Can the U.S. Save Alcantara, Brazil’s Cursed Spaceport?," 20 Mar. 2019 The resulting fireball consumed the gantry and set fire to the jungle surrounding the pad. — Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, "Can the U.S. Save Alcantara, Brazil’s Cursed Spaceport?," 20 Mar. 2019 The glazing gantry does the windshields and rear glass. — Alex Davies, WIRED, "How Tesla Is Building Cars in Its Parking Lot," 22 June 2018 In a large clearing, about 700 people are working two shifts to build a massive flame trench for the Ariane 6 rocket and a mobile launch gantry. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "As the SpaceX steamroller surges, European rocket industry vows to resist," 20 July 2018 Singapore is working to make its system more efficient and less costly by turning to satellites to replace the physical gantries beginning in 2020. — Christina Anderson, Winnie Hu, Weiyi Lim And Anna Schaverien, New York Times, "3 Far-Flung Cities Offer Clues to Unsnarling Manhattan’s Streets," 26 Feb. 2018 The disasters that struck late Friday left the city’s port in ruins, its lone gantry crane atilt in the water. — Elaine Kurtenbach, The Seattle Times, "Disaster undoes hard-won progress for Indonesian port city," 2 Oct. 2018 Munoz said his team remains on track to complete the gantry and close out the massive flame trench by the end of the year. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "As the SpaceX steamroller surges, European rocket industry vows to resist," 20 July 2018 Next to it, the blue scaffolds of an indoor crane resemble a launchpad gantry. — Sarah Scoles, WIRED, "Inside the Test Chamber for NASA's Astronaut Vehicle Double," 12 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gantry.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for gantry

Middle English gauntree, reshaping (perhaps conformed to tre tree entry 1) of ganter, borrowed from Anglo-French *ganter (Old French —Picard— gantier, Old French chantier), going back to Latin cantērius, canthērius "horse of poor quality, rafter, prop for vines," akin to Greek kanthḗlia "panniers," (ónos) kanthḗlios "pack ass," both loanwords from an undetermined Mediterranean language